Building construction.



H. RYAN.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

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Jg PatentMSept. 25, 1917.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

Application filed July 1, 1916. Serial No. 107,031.

y tion.

This invention relates to building construction.

The object of the invention is the proimprovements in vision'of animproved theater building con.

" taining a ramp or inclined walk leading to thee-gbalcpny which crossesthe foyer or ante-rOO-.mf'tothe rear of the main auditorium midway thelength of the foyer and thus permits the foyer being positioned directlyagainst the side wall of the building with the result of large increasein the seating capacity of the auditorium. Access to the balcony isgreatly facilitated by the novel arrangement of the ramp as provided inmy invention. l

The invention consists in the novel construction of a theater building,and the adaptation, arrangement and combination of novel featurestherein, as will be fully described in the following specifications,illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and finally set forth in theappended claims.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a buildingconstructed in accordance with my invention, taken on line 1 1 of Fig. a

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 taken on line 4 4 of Fig. l.

Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views illustrating certain constructionaldetails of the invention.

Referring to said drawings, wherein like reference characters indicatelike parts in the several views, the reference numeral 10 indicates thefront wall of a rectangular building, 11 the opposite rear wall, and 12and 13 the connecting side walls, respectively. Said walls constitutethe main structural elements of the building, although the front wall islargely of glass and of an ornamental character. 101 indicating thecolumns upon which the weight of the structure is carried.

Interiorly of the building as defined by said walls, is a vertical wall15 which is connected to the side wall 13 intermediate the intersectionof the latter with the front and rear walls, and extends toward theopposite side wall and directed toward the front of the building at aninclination forming an obtuse angle upon the side adjacent the rear wall11 and which, if projected to intersect an extension of t-he back wall11, would diverge from the latter' at an angle of approxinmtely thirtydegrees.

Between the diver-ging walls 11 and 13 is the auditorium 14 consistingin a converging walled chamber' whose narrower end 1G in proximity ofthe wall 13 is provided with a stage 17 and motion picture screen 18which are directed symmetrically with respect to the major axis of theauditorium. Said stage and screen may desirably occupy the largerportion of said narrow end of the auditorium, and the rows of seats 2Oare, or may be, arranged in radiating lines, all of which converge uponthe stage and screen.

rl`he side walls 11 and 15 of the audi torium having a divergence ofabout thirty degrees and the screen being positioned at the smaller endthereof, all the seats occupying the entire auditorium may be arrangedsubstantially in front of the screen to obtain a good view of thepictures being shown thereon with practically no observable distortionof the image being projected through the Visual angle being oblique fromthe axis of the beam of projection.

The angle of vision from the most extreme side seats will be less thanfifteen degrees, which will not cause a noticeably distorted picture tobe observed.

19 indicates a wing extension of said wall 15 that may extend to thewall 12 in lines rectangular thereto. Said wing does not extend to thelower or main floor but begins at the mezzanine floor and thenceupwardly to thc upper floors or roof.

Referring further to the floor plan of the 1 as they A single ramp orinclined walk 30 is provided for attaining access to the balcony 31. Thelower` entrance 32 to said ramp 1s upon the one side of said lobby nearthe entrance 25 and to the outer side of the foyer, and eX- .tend overthe foyer,

inclined plane under annarch 33 formed in the lower portion of wing wall19, until about the mid-,length of the -rearend ofthe auditorium isreached, whereupon the ramp is given al relatively sharp bend, as at 35and crosses overhead of thel foyer land thence extends in two oppositelydirected branches 36 and 37 by easyy curves tothe opposite sides oftheauditorium balcony.

The ramp is inclined with'a rise of about one foot in siX feet oflength;y Its lower end 32 is positioned yforwardly in close proximity ofthe entrance 25 and considerably removed from the` side wall 12, so thatwhere its curved sweep at its lower end approaches said side wall 12, ithas reached an elevation that carries it well above the foyer. j For adistance from the entrance, the side Wall 41 of the foyer and the innerrailing 42 of the tends with a curved sweepv upwardly in an pointsomewhat beyond the archway 33 formed by the lower edge of thewing-,wall 19, when the ramp vhas reached an elevation to affordhead-room in the foyer, theramp continues in the same ,curved sweep toeX- as at 45, while the ,foyer is directed toward the side wall, asindicated in the dotted lines 46 in Fig. 2, .and beyond the projectedcenter aXialline, approximately, of the auditorium, the foyer ispositioned directly against ltheside wall 12 and extends thus to therearwall 11 of the building. y. u

In all otherarrangements o f ramps in theater buildingsknown tome, ltheramp 'is positioned `to. the rear of the foyer and eX- tended to theopposite side `of the auditorium; that is to say, what would be betweenthe foyer as presented in Athe drawings, and the wall 12, and extendedto close proXimity of the rear wall 11, thus taking oft' ,valuat one endof said foyer, its lower l'end positioned adjacent the enl. trance endof said foyer upon the side oppof ramp are in vertical alinement but ata -4 able seating capacity from theauditorium and bringing the higherend of the ramp upon one side of the balcony, necessitating either along return passage to reach the oppositel side of the balcony, Voranother ramp to reach the opposite side of the balcony more'directly.

By the provision of the ramp as in my invention, and vby crossingoverhead the foyer at about its midlength, I am enabled to carry thefoyer back to the side wall 12, aording a much larger seating capacityandv enable the patrons to reach the balcony by anl easy grade uponeither side by lengths.

It will be seen by reference to Figs. 5 and ranch ramps 36 and' 37 whichare of equal l 6, that the provision of the ramp somewhat overhangingthefoyer, as indicated by the construction angle 47, is not at allobjectionable from an interior decorative point of view and as-has beenmost successfully demonstrated. j Having described my invention, what Iclaim, is

1. In -a building of the class described, including an auditorium on itsmain floor andI a balcony, a foyer positioned at the rear ofsaidauditorium having an entrance and a ramp having site from theauditorium, and crossing over said foyer at approximately the midlength.of the foyer to afford access vto the balcony.

. day of J une, 1916.

HENDERSON RYAN.

Witnesses:

HORACE BARNES, E. PETERSON.

